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Save the Arctic sea ice while we still can! Updated for 2026

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Fossil fuel companies, and their supporters in government, seem blissfully unaware of the dangers ahead, threatening everybody on this planet.

The sea ice is declining far more rapidly than anyone expected. It is declining towards disappearance in summer months, yet the colossal negative impact of a low albedo Arctic has hardly been discussed. This is tragic because the whole situation could have been avoided with good leadership at negligible economic cost.

And as reported this week on The Ecologist, new scientific research indicates that the apparent ‘pause’ in global warming has, in fact, been no such thing. Instead the surplus heat – two Hiroshima bombs-worth a second – has simply been ‘buried’ deep in the Pacific Ocean.

That’s because of two important climate cycles, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, whose operation has masked the warming. But soon they will tip the other way and the ‘Big Heat’ is set to begin – a five to ten year burst of rapid warming that will be most severe in the Arctic.

Commercial advantages for some …

If you read the mainstream media, only the positive impact of a melting Arctic is mentioned: an Arctic ripe for exploitation.

Through not grasping the huge negative impact of a low albedo Arctic, the fossil fuel companies still appear entirely happy for the sea ice to disappear as quickly as possible – the sooner the better. Therefore they naturally resist any action to save the sea ice. In particular they don’t want geoengineering deployed to cool the Arctic, because it might succeed in saving it!

Certain fossil fuel companies have already invested heavily in exploiting the vast store of oil and gas in the Arctic. These companies, and the governments who support them, are preparing for a bonanza when the sea ice disappears in summer: it will be so much easier and safer to extract the fossil fuel when the sea ice and freezing conditions have gone during summer months.

Furthermore, the disappearance of the sea ice will open up the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route (formerly known as the Northeast Passage) to trade through summer months. So China and nations bordering the Atlantic (including the UK) are expecting to benefit enormously. Russia is investing heavily in ports and infrastructure to support the anticipated heavy traffic.

Various environment groups and the UK Environment Audit Committee have argued against drilling in the Arctic because they are concerned about oil spills and gas blow-outs which could ruin the local environment. They also seek to protect the wild life and Arctic ecosystem. But their arguing will be futile once the sea ice has gone in summer. It will be too late to protect the environment.

Environmentists have less concern about the opening up of the trade routes, because this will reduce CO2 emissions from transport of goods which at present have much longer journeys.

The Arctic bombshell is waiting to go off

While there is all this talk of exploiting the Arctic, little or nothing is said about the adverse effects of having an Arctic free of sea ice during summer months.

Nothing has been said by the IPCC. Nothing has been said in the mainstream media. Nothing has been said by the scientific community at large. This is a terrible omission. It is quite scandalous.

While most experts agree that there will come a time when the Arctic Ocean will be free of ice during summer months, there is no such agreement on the time-scale. Models suggest that it will take decades.

But observations of an exponential trend of sea ice decline suggest that this time could be within a decade. Scientific reports of especially rapid temperature rise in Alaska have also been emerged. For example Barrow, Alaska has experienced a 7C temperature rise over 34 years, attributed to the decline in sea ice.

So what are the effects? During summer months, a vast area of reflective ice will have been replaced by open water, absorbing 90% of sunshine and warming the Arctic air above. It is clear that the Arctic will be warming much faster than at present – likely at over 2°C per decade.

As heat dissipates around the planet, there will be a huge contribution to global warming in the long term. Estimates put this at equivalent of 3.3 W/m2 (Flanner, 2011) or about twice the current warming from CO2.

But what are the immediate consequences of this super-rapid warming in the Arctic? At present we have an acceleration of three particular processes, affected by Arctic warming to date:

  • Firstly, we have a dramatic rise in Northern Hemisphere weather extremes, as the jet stream behaviour is disrupted.
  • Secondly we have an exponential increase in meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet, flowing through moulins on the surface of the ice into the sea and raising the sea level.
  • And thirdly we have a dramatic increase in methane emissions from the Arctic Ocean seabed.

As the temperature in the Arctic continues to increase, these processes will continue almost indefinitely. We can expect worsening Northern Hemisphere climate causing widespread crop failures; faster sea level rise causing progressive flooding of low-lying regions; and growing methane emissions leading to even more catastrophic global warming.

These are three immediate results of the switching on of heat as the Arctic Ocean enters the low sea-ice state. The combination will be devastating for all mankind – with mass starvation and mass migration liable to trigger a world war.

This is the terrifying bombshell. The bonanza will be short-lived, as the effects of a seasonally ice free Arctic Ocean begin to bite.

For a few billion dollars a year, we can save the Arctic

Something must be done to prevent the ocean entering this low-ice state. Therefore the Arctic must be cooled enough to save the sea ice.

The first moment at the end of summer that the sea ice finally disappears from the ocean is called the ‘blue ocean event’. It is significant because it could mark the entry of the ocean into a permanent low-ice state for subsequent years – the point of no return. The point of no return could be a soon as next September.

By any ordinary standards, we have left it too late to cool the Arctic. But any reduction in the risk of passing the point of no return is worthwhile, when all our futures are at stake.

Fortunately researchers are increasingly confident that a stratospheric aerosol haze, produced from sulphur dioxide, SO2, could provide significant cooling of the Arctic for modest expenditure of the order of a few billion dollars per year.

This type of cooling could be replaced by cloud brightening using ultra-fine seawater droplets when the technology is ready for large-scale deployment within a year or two.

There should be no significant negative economic impact from this action, except that the resources in the Arctic become frozen assets. But they should be frozen assets in any case if global warming is to be kept below 2 degrees C, according to a recent paper.

There should be positive political impact, because governments will be working together in a common cause to protect their own citizens and all the citizens of the world. The fossil fuel industry has to be persuaded that preserving the Arctic sea ice is essential for the future of themselves and their stakeholders.

Objections from the anti-geoengineering lobby have to be overcome, because we have no other realistic option to reduce the colossal risk of passing a point of no return this September.

 

 

John Nissen is Chair of the Arctic Methane Emergency Group.

 

 




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UN talks begin on a new law to save our oceans Updated for 2026

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The United Nations has resolved to modernise international law on the sustainable use of the high seas and their wildlife.

The move could lead to new laws to address many of the oceans most severe problems, including measures to combat over-fishing and illegal fishing, the regulation of ‘by catch’ by fishing vessels, and the conservation of endangered species.

Other issues on the agenda include the protection of the seabed from deep sea mining, ocean acidification from rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, marine biodiversity prospecting, regulation of offshore oil and gas prospecting, and the clean up of vast floating islands of plastic waste.

Following the decision by the United Nations Informal Working Group on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), negotiations will now begin for a new international agreement for the sustainable use and conservation of marine biodiversity in the high seas.

Encouraging and historic

The decision was welcomed by David Miliband, Co-chair of the Global Ocean Commission (GOC), who had himself addressed delegates at the BBNJ meeting. It was “encouraging to see the UN agreeing to take action”, he said.

“This was one of the main demands identified by the Global Ocean Commission. I’m glad the message is getting across. The consensus reached last week will be remembered as a milestone in the modernisation of ocean governance.”

GOC Commissioner Robert Hill, who was the first Chairperson of the BBNJ when it was formed in 2006, called last week’s decision “historic”, adding:

“As always with UN processes, the work is far from over. First, we have to ensure the consensus recommendation is not undermined when it goes before the General Assembly in a few months and, second, it will be important to monitor closely the treaty negotiation – including the Preparatory Committee process and ultimately the international conference.”

Last year the GOC called for a new Implementing Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to prioritise ocean health and resilience, restore ocean productivity, guard against irresponsible, inefficient and wasteful exploitation, and allow for the creation of high seas marine protected areas (MPAs).

Such an agreement would extend governance to the 64% of the global ocean – and 45% of the planetary surface – that lies outside national jurisdiction, and provide a mechanism to conserve valuable high seas services such as carbon sequestration, worth between US$74 and US$222 billion annually, currently in jeopardy.

Time to end the high seas ‘failed state’

“The high seas are like a failed state“ , said Miliband. “Poor governance and the absence of policing and management mean valuable resources are unprotected or being squandered. The high seas belong to us all. We know what needs to be done but we can’t do it alone. A joint mission must be our priority.”

The GOC’s call was relayed and supported by more than 285,000 citizens from 111 countries, who signed a petition that was delivered to the UN Secretary General at the opening of the current Session of the UN General Assembly in September last year.

The BBNJ was mandated by the Rio+20 2012 Earth Summit to address the governance and conservation of the high seas – the portion of the ocean beyond a country’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone. These areas beyond national jurisdiction represent 64% of the ocean’s surface, and 45% of our entire planet.

 

 

Join the call: ‘Help secure a living ocean, food and prosperity – propose a new agreement for high seas protection‘.

 

 




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Save our farmers with fair trade milk! Updated for 2026

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I have recently been listening to the bad news about the price of milk while actually milking cows, as my herdsman took a break over Christmas and the New Year.

Experiencing at first hand the economic impact of the climate in which dairy farmers are operating gives the issue a whole different meaning.

It seems to me that nothing could better illustrate the institutionalised madness that prevails in the world of globalised, industrialised, commodity-style food production than its impact on the price of milk and dairy farmers in Britain.

As with so many matters connected with food, the root of the problem lies in the distorted economic system.

I’ve just been down to my local Tesco store in Bristol, which, along with most of the major British supermarkets, is now selling milk very cheaply, in this case four pints of conventional whole milk for 89 pence (£0.89).

Apologies for dancing between pints and litres, but four pints of milk is 2.27 litres, so divide that into 89 pence and you get just over 39.2 ppl (pence per litre). This is theoretically the total amount of money that has to be divided between the farmer, processor and retailer.

The conventional milk did not appeal to me, so I purchased two pints of organic milk for £1.14 instead. Doing the same maths, that makes the retail price of the organic milk almost exactly £1 per litre, more than twice the price of the conventional product.

Down on the farm, things are getting desperate

That is what’s happening in the shops, but what about back on the farm? Well, for conventional milk production at least, it’s a pretty horrible story. About a year ago the farm gate milk price was around 37 ppl – the best for years and good enough to make a reasonable profit.

Farmers responded by vastly increasing their milk production, mostly by expanding their herd sizes and further intensifying production, with the very large industrialised farms getting even bigger.

The phrase ‘turkeys voting for Christmas’ comes to mind. Now imagine this happening all over the world, combined with a good growing season for dairying weather-wise. The inevitable consequence has been a serious over-supply of the milk market.

To cap it all, Russia then banned imports of dairy products from the European Union in response to EU sanctions over Ukraine, which precipitated a catastrophic downward slide in farm gate milk prices. Ironically there are a number of parallels with the dramatic fall in the price of oil.

As a result, most producers are only receiving just over half the price they received about a year ago; currently as little as 22 ppl for conventional milk, which is well below the cost of production.

There is only so long that any farmer can lose serious money on every litre of milk, and needless to say it is the small, so-called ‘inefficient’ family dairy farms (which represent the backbone of rural culture in England, Wales and Scotland) that are being forced out of business the fastest.

With support from their banks the biggest farms will survive by intensifying further and growing bigger still – something that has negative implications for the environment, animal welfare, rural communities and milk quality.

Last week, the total number of dairy farms in England and Wales dropped below 10,000 for the first time and all the signs suggest that the exodus will continue.

This is a kind of cultural cleansing by price, with the farmers giving up quietly without fuss as their bank managers politely tell them that they have nowhere to go and had better quit milking while they still have some equity in their business.

Are there any rays of hope on the horizon of this bleak landscape?

Well, it is slightly better for organic producers. At the time of writing this, the West Wales farmers co-op that supplies organic milk to Rachel’s Dairy, now owned by Lactalys, a French company with a tradition of looking after its producers, are paying a base price of 40 ppl. That’s double the conventional price, though I suspect this too will drop in the near future.

Otherwise, the prospects for non-organic dairy farmers are bleak indeed, with the leaders of the farming industry still advocating that we have no choice but to continue to ride the roller-coaster of global prices, as they foolishly believe that this is the most efficient means of regulating supply and demand.

In practical terms, this means that only when a sufficient number of dairy farms have gone out of business will the market turn and prices pick up again. A jargon label has even been invented to make the phenomenon more legitimate: it’s called ‘price volatility’! Prices will go up, there will be another surge of intensification, prices will slump, and so on and so forth.

As a result, there will be ever-fewer dairy farmers, with the industrial-style survivors producing vast quantities of commodity milk from permanently housed cows that are fed on genetically modified grains and never allowed out to pasture. This is a story that, if you knew it, would probably discourage you from wanting to buy milk at all.

A solution: fair trade milk!

The BBC’s Today Programme has covered this twice over the last few days. In the first discussion I heard Meurig Raymond, President of the National Farmers Union, and David Handley, Chairman of Farmers for Action (a French-style blockade-the-supermarkets group), bemoaning this bleak situation.

But when the presenter asked them what could be done about it, neither of them really had an answer, apart from blaming the supermarkets for the ongoing price wars. But is there the slightest chance that the supermarkets will change their practices when they too are engaged in a struggle for the survival of the ‘fittest’ – in this case currently Aldi and Lidl?

I thought not, so after the programme I rang up the editor and suggested that the only way to improve the financial fortunes of dairy farmers will be through the emergence of some kind of public contract, perhaps based on the principles of fair trade, where consumers can buy milk and dairy products knowing the price the farmer has been paid is equitable and fair.

Interestingly they ran another piece on the Today Programme in which fair trade was mentioned, but there was no clear call for action. So here’s what I think could be done: why not introduce a fair trade label for milk?

I’d be very interested to know what the UK Fairtrade Foundation thinks about this idea. Since about 10 years ago, when I was at the Soil Association, we did try to develop a fair trade organic label, but when we approached the Fairtrade Foundation we received a clear message which I can roughly summarise as:

“Fairtrade is about tea, coffee and bananas produced by peasant farmers in developing countries, not featherbedded, heavily subsidised, rich European producers!”

At the time, we backed off – mistakenly in my view, with the benefit of hindsight – as we didn’t want to pick a public fight with those guys.

Fair trade should begin at home

But it still seems to me that fair trade should start at home and that means using our purchasing power right now to support all those beleaguered small family dairy farms on the edge of a precipice, through the introduction of a fair trade milk scheme which gives them a guaranteed fair price, providing their production systems are ethical.

If we don’t do this the family farms will disappear simply to be replaced by ever-larger industrialised farms where the cows are put under ever-more pressure to produce milk yields beyond their metabolic limits. So, let’s challenge the various certification organisations to introduce a fair trade milk label, with some conditions for entry!

In my opinion the scheme should be restricted to farmers with herds of fewer than 400 cows. That’s because the cows should be required to graze pastures during the summer season and larger herds need more land to graze, which means the distances they have to walk night and morning become excessive. There would also be other restrictions that would ensure the story behind the fair-trade mark met with customer expectations.

In parallel with the introduction of such a label, there needs to be a proper investigation into the true cost of environmentally and socially sustainable dairy farming.

That way we can come up with an objective price for milk production that avoids damaging environmental and human health consequences, while at the same time preserving natural capital, avoiding pollution and promoting public health.

This is a project that the Sustainable Food Trust will champion as part of our True Cost Accounting initiative.

But in the meantime, it should be relatively simple to come up with a minimum price based on existing research on the cost of production and linking this to any agreed ethical, welfare and environmental criteria.

 

 

Patrick Holden is the founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust, working internationally to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable food systems. He is also Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005.

This article was originally published by the Sustainable Food Trust.

Photo: Steph French.

 




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The other reason I joined UKIP – to save our nightingales! Updated for 2026

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Following a fantastic campaign – which the Airports Commission said generated more representations than any other – the Thames estuary airport pie-in-the-sky proposal promoted by the Mayor of London was categorically ruled out on the 2nd of September.

Unfortunately, two days later, Medway Council’s own planning committee attacked the Hoo peninsula with its own threat – a very serious threat – to build approximately 5,000 houses at Lodge hill, a bird sanctuary in my constituency.

Two days after we had had the dreadful threat of the Thames estuary airport ruled out, we had this other one to deal with. Five days later, Medway Council had to refer the application to the Secretary of State to consider whether it should be called in.

The rules are clear – minister must call in the plans

The criteria used for planning application call-ins used to be called the ‘Caborn criteria’. Three of those criteria appear to be met very clearly by this application to the extent that a call-in is required.

The first relates to conflicting with national policies on important matters, notably the protection of sites of special scientific interest – and, indeed, the whole integrity of our system of environmental protection.

The second relates to having significant effects beyond the immediate locality. It could even have an effect as far away as west Africa, where the nightingales that are the cause of this area becoming an SSSI spend the British winter.

There could be an impact on Essex, because the planning committee of Medway council has, in its wisdom, accepted a proposal that the nightingales can be told to go to an alternative location somewhere in Essex.

We do not have much in the way of detail, but this clearly suggests significant effects beyond the immediate locality. Perhaps most importantly, approving the proposal or failing to call it in and seeking to nod it through with a green light could have impacts on other SSSIs across the country.

The third criterion is where the development would give rise to substantial cross-border or national controversy. Having been at the centre of such controversy during the recent Rochester and Strood by-election, I can vouch for that.

Medway Council assured – ‘there will be no call-in’

On 25 September, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government recused himself from considering the application on the basis that he is a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Two days later, I recused myself from the Conservative party and was determined to fight a by-election partly on this issue. Since the Secretary of State recused himself, the matter has been considered by the Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis).

He wrote to me on 15 October, and I was glad to hear that no ministerial decision had been taken on whether the matter should be called in. He criticised what he described as my claim that such a decision had been taken.

Of course, that was not my claim. It was a claim made by the deputy leader of Medway council, Councillor Alan Jarrett, in a meeting of Conservative councillors. His statement was that it had apparently been communicated to him by the Government that the proposal would be green-lighted and would not be called in.

That led to another councillor present at the meeting, Councillor Peter Rodberg, leaving the Conservative group and joining me in UKIP.

‘Just keep quiet until after the election’

He says – and this is borne out by another councillor who has spoken to me, and who remains a Conservative – that at the end of the meeting, after the councillors had been told that the Government would green-light the proposal, Councillor Peter Hicks, who represents Strood Rural, said that they should keep quiet about it until after the election.

It was a pleasure to learn from the Minister that he was dealing with the issue of the call-in properly. He clearly recognises that he is acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, and – at least in terms of the time that he has already devoted to the issue and the correspondence that he has issued – he appears to be performing his duties with diligence.

His most recent letter was written on 8 December to Councillor Rodney Chambers, the leader of Medway Council. I understand that since this Government have been in office no more than a dozen applications have been called in each year, whereas under the last Government about 30 a year were called in, but I am not aware of any precedent for such a letter.

A most irregular correspondence

The Minister wrote asking for Medway Council’s views, and in particular the views of the planning committee that had considered the application on 4 September, on a number of representations that had been received, including representations from the RSPB and Natural England.

Unfortunately the Minister did not attach the representations that he said he had attached to the letter, and, as far as I know, they have not been published. The letter is peculiar, however. It is not clear whether Medway Council’s views were being sought, or the views of the planning committee, or both, and it is not clear how any conflict between them should be resolved.

The planning committee meeting was, of course, on the record, so the extent to which it has considered – or, one suspects, not considered – the matters that it should have considered should have been made clear either in its decision notice or in the record of that meeting.

I therefore question the credibility and reliability of any ex post facto justifications that Medway Council may now produce for its decision, and any statement in which it purports to have abided by the national planning policy framework.

Only one reasonable conclusion to this sorry affair

Given that letter, given that at least three of the criteria for call-in were clearly met, and given the statement by the deputy leader of the Council that the proposal would be green-lighted in the light of communications that he at least believed were taking place within the Government or among those who he thought could speak for them in respect of there not being a call-in, I think it is clear that the safest and, indeed, the only appropriate option is for the Government to call in the application, appoint an inspector, and give proper consideration to what is, in my view, an incredibly damaging application.

This application would result in the pulling together of several villages into a single conglomeration, and would cause a Site of Special Scientific Interest to be almost completely built over, which would undermine the whole system of environmental protection in this country.

It should now be considered by an inspector and then by the Secretary of State, and, hopefully, turned down as a result.

 

 

Mark Reckless is the UKIP MP for Rochester and Strood.

This article is an extract from a speech by Mark Reckless MP to the House of Commons on 18th December 2014, also reproduced on his own website.

 




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For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

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Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327

For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

Leave a reply




Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327

For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

Leave a reply




Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327

For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

Leave a reply




Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327

For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

Leave a reply




Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327

For the love of cod, let’s save our disappearing seagrass Updated for 2026

Leave a reply




Seagrass is one of the most important coastal habitats where young ocean-going fish such as Atlantic cod can grow and develop before setting out on the journey of life.

But these critically important habitats, revealed in new research, are being damaged the world over and its not just threatening biodiversity but our food security.

Some 30,000 km2 of seagrass (Zostera marina) has disappeared over the past two decades, about 18% of the global area. This is incredibly important.

One hectare of seagrass absorbs 1.2 kilogrammes of nutrients each year, equivalent to the treated effluent of 200 people. It can produce 100,000 litres of oxygen per day, can support 80,000 fish and 100m invertebrates – and absorb ten times as much CO2 as a pristine area of Amazon rainforest.

A vital habitat for marine life

Providing shallow-water habitats where young ocean-going fish can grow and develop is one of the key ecosystem services that our coastal seas provide, but unfortunately we largely don’t recognise the value of them in supporting the fishery resources of vast ocean basins.

We continue to allow the loss of this coastal habitat to occur throughout the world – in spite of regulations in many nations to protect key habitats and biodiversity.

The diminished status of fisheries for species such as the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) means we need to move beyond purely managing adult fish stocks and consider the interaction of individual high-value species within the whole seascape and the critical habitats within that.

This is critical as our declining fishery stocks do not align with the needs of the region or the planet as a whole. To meet the needs of the predicted human population of 2050, an additional 75m tons of protein from fish and aquatic invertebrates will be required – this is a 50% increase in current supply.

Seagrass as a nursery for juvenile cod

The Atlantic cod is a species of significant economic and historic importance but is now better known for its catastrophic decline. Apart from overfishing, the causes of this decline and its subsequent lack of recovery remain largely unresolved.

The degree to which specific coastal and shallow-water habitats are important for this species still remains unquantified at the scale of the North Atlantic.

There is extensive evidence of the presence of juvenile Atlantic cod in seagrass throughout the North Atlantic. Juvenile cod have been recorded in such high density in seagrass that they average 246 individuals per hectare.

This density of juvenile Atlantic cod is higher in seagrass meadows compared to alternative habitats. This includes an incredible dataset from Norway where researchers have sampled juvenile cod in seagrass annually since 1919 and other recent studies observing juvenile cod in seagrass in North Wales by our team at Swansea University using stereo Baited Remote Underwater Video systems and seine nets.

Juvenile Atlantic cod have greater long-term viability after having spent time in seagrass, which improves their chances of reaching maturity. Our new analysis, published in the open access journal, Global Ecology and Conservation, illustrates how juvenile Atlantic cod grow faster in seagrass than in surrounding alternative habitat types and have higher survival rates from predation.

Although juvenile Atlantic cod do not always need to use seagrass meadows as juvenile habitats, it appears that they may intentionally select seagrass as a nursery habitat. This data comes from studies throughout the Atlantic including Newfoundland in the west and Sweden in the east.

Biodiversity and food security

The study, conducted in collaboration with Richard Lilley at Cardiff University, was an extensive meta-analysis of research on the life history of the Atlantic cod resulting in a review and synthesis of its nursery habitat usage.

It includes data sources from throughout the region, ranging from Newfoundland, to Norway, to Scotland and to Sweden.

Our work provides strong evidence that seagrass meadows are of significant importance to contributing to Atlantic cod stocks, and our review presents extensive quantitative evidence of the role of seagrass as valuable nursery habitat for Atlantic cod. These findings are of major significance given the continued threats to these systems.

Seagrass meadows are globally important resources that are being threatened by a whole series of issues ranging from climate change and major weather events to boating activity, poor water quality and coastal development.

This work clearly illustrates how key habitats in our coastal seas such as seagrass need protecting, not just for biodiversity but for the continued food security provided by our oceans.

 

 

Richard K.F. Unsworth is Research Officer (Marine Ecology) at the University of Swansea. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

 




386327